ST. ALBANS, WV (WOWK) – After more than 100 years, a St. Albans apartment building is coming down.

The demolition kicked off this morning at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 18, temporarily closing Washington Avenue between Spring and Washington streets.

Ron Smith, who owns the lot donated the space to the city. He says while he’s sad to see it go, the demolition was needed due to all of the damages to the building.

“You hate to see history torn down at times, but people have to take care of their structures, and if they don’t they become an eyesore,” Smith says. “It hurts the property values in the neighborhood, in the town. And we just want to continue to make St. Albans a great place to come visit, but also a great place to come live, and make it a beautiful place.”

The mayor has not announced what the city plans to do with the space just yet.